This Saturday night King of the Cage opens its event doors for fight fans, and standing at the ready will be “the Haitian Sensation” Ben Pierre-Saint. Pierre-Saint is looking to strengthen his professional 8-1 winning record and end opponent UFC vet Ramiro “Junior” Hernandez’s winning streak.

At just 5’5” tall, this bantamweight fighter is often slated as the underdog. “It’s the story of my life, I guess,” said Pierre-Saint. “From fighting in the streets to defending myself in the cage, it’s all the same. Because I’m short, with my street clothes on, a lot of people think they can take me on — until they feel my strength and power. And soon they realize the hard way that they bit off more than they can chew.”

Born in Haiti, Pierre-Saint moved to the United States with his family when he was four years old. He lived and attended school in Connecticut until he graduated high school, and found himself looking ahead to his future.

“I was being recruited to wrestle for Itasca Community College,” Pierre-Saint said. “But it wasn’t a scholarship, I was just asked to go. I put two and two together, and decided if this wrestling gets boring for me, I will just stay there and try to pursue a career in MMA.”

And that is exactly the path he followed. After one year with ICC, the wrestling season was canceled due to issues with the coaching staff. BPS chose to go after his coaching certificate in wrestling and football, and achieved both. He moved to Superior, WI and found a gym to call home. He currently trains and fights out of Inner Strength MMA.

Pierre-Saint has been training and competing in the sport for two years. As a professional, his first and only loss was to Bellator vet Andre Tieva last September by decision. A majority of BPS’s wins have been by decision, however, he also has wins by submission, TKO and KO.

Pierre-Saint’s fight this weekend was originally slated against Californian Reuben Duran for the KOTC Bantamweight Championship. Due to an injury, Duran wasn’t able to compete and Hernandez stepped up for a non-title fight.

“I know that Hernandez has fought twice in the UFC,” said Pierre-Saint. “My main goal for this fight is to be impressive and get that finish.”

He has a message for Hernandez, “Let’s have an epic battle like never before!”

Naysayers have made comments that Pierre-Saint is out of his league in facing this next opponent. “I’ve always told myself if you’re not trying to be the best, or fight the best, then why fight at all?” said Pierre-Saint. “I’m trying to get to the next level so I can be among the very best in the world at what I do.

“I accept the tough fights and fighters who are more experienced than me all of the time,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’ve been doing it my whole career and I’ve been winning almost all of them. Saturday night at Black Bear Casino will be no different for me.”

BPS is looking forward to showing his fans how he has grown since his last fight. “My fans will always get a new and more improved Ben Pierre-Saint at every show,” he said. “I am constantly growing in this sport, inside and outside of the cage.

“One of my greatest strengths,” BPS said, “is my mentality to never give up — and to always fight ‘til the end.” He has never been finished in a fight.

What keeps Pierre-Saint driven is his desire to meet the goals he has set for himself. “My long-term goal is to get to the highest point possible in this sport — everybody already knows what that is without saying any names.”